Description

Developers looking for equity for real estate projects have in the past relied mostly on wealthy investors or sophisticated Wall Street institutions as sources of capital. These sources generally lack intimate knowledge of specific communities and can have prescribed underwriting standards for risk and project scale that limit the range of investment possibilities. With the growth of “Crowdfunding," however, the model could dramatically change. Made possible by the JOBS Act, small investors from the community can now join the investment pool in increments as small as $50 to $100. Residents and other “unaccredited investors” can take small-scale stakes in developments within their neighborhood. Also, developers can seek larger amounts from accredited investors by advertising broadly including on the internet. But all this raises critical questions: Can giving a voice to micro investors really speed up neighborhood revitalization? And how do the developers manage reporting requirements for so many investors? Will internet investors-- as critics say-- find themselves to be the victims of scams? What do the experiences in others cities suggest for Chicago?

Join the Real Estate Center and Chaddick Institute at DePaul University as we explore these questions and more at our annual conference on December 11.

Ben Miller, Co Founder of Fundrise will tell the story of their groundbreaking and highly successful efforts to use Crowdfunding in Washington, DC. We’ll also hear from a distinguished panel embarking on similar efforts in Chicago. We’ll learn what happens when traditional forces in real estate investment collide with the future of real estate funding.